TheNewsGuru

Tag: bayelsa

  • Abducted INEC official regains freedom – Official

    Abducted INEC official regains freedom – Official

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Bayelsa says its  Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO), abducted on Friday, has regained his freedom.

    The SPO was abducted by gunmen on his way to the Registration Area Centre – 06 (Ossioma) in Sagbama Local Government Area.

    The Head of Voter Education and Publicity of the state INEC in Yenagoa, Mr Wilfred  Ifogah, confirmed the cheering news in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday.

    According to Ifogah, the officer is hale and hearty.

    The officer, whose name was not disclosed, was abducted while waiting at Amassoma Jetty to board a boat to his place of deployment.

    The Spokesman for the Police Command in the state, CSP Asinim Butswat, could not be reached for comments

  • Bayelsa Poll: Vote-buying was overwhelming, LP candidate alleges

    Bayelsa Poll: Vote-buying was overwhelming, LP candidate alleges

    Mr Udengs Eradiri, the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Bayelsa, says the gubernatorial election held on Saturday in the state has been marred by massive vote-buying.

    “The level of vote-buying is overwhelming,” Eradiri said while commenting on the general conduct of the election.

    Eradiri who spoke at Agudama-Ekpetiama, Yenagoa Local Government Area, claimed that he was even approached to step down, but declined.

    He said he was particularly disappointed about the open cases of vote-buying, because his campaign was partly devoted to educating the people not to sell their votes.

    “I had thought my messages against money politics would have been tracking with the people, but I was wrong. I am deeply disappointed, I was wrong.

    “My greatest dispoinyment was with a woman from this community whom I offered scholarship to her son, but today sold her vote for N14,000,” he added.

    The LP governorship candidate regretted that the electorates seemed to have opted for money instead of voting for the right candidate.

    “We have a long way to go in stopping money politics in this country.

    “I thought I had found a solution but I was wrong. I did not come into this race to buy votes,” Eradiri added.

    According to him, votes were freely traded for between N12,000 and N40,000 per vote.

  • Bayelsa decides: 1,017,613 voters to elect new Governor

    Bayelsa decides: 1,017,613 voters to elect new Governor

    A total of 1,017,613 registered voters are expected to determine who becomes the next governor of Bayelsa as voting opens on Saturday.

    In the race are 16 political parties and their candidates including the incumbent, Gov. Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Timipre Slyva of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Eradiyi Udengmobofa of the Labour Party (LP).

    The election will hold in all the eight Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state, namely, Brass, Ekeremor, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Nembe, Ogbia, Sagbama, Southern Ijaw and Yenegoa.

    The poll is expected to begin in all the 2,242 Polling Units across the eight local government areas from 8.30am to 2.30pm or when the last voter on queue finish voting.

    A breakdown of the total registered voters according to INEC shows that 556,085 (54 per cent) are males, 490, 767 females (46 per cent), and Persons Living with Disability, 880.

    The  statistics from INEC also revealed that 42 per cent of the voters are youth between the age of 18 and 34, while those 35 to 49 represents 40 per cent.

    Elderly voters aged 50 to 67 are up to 159,940, representing 15 per cent of total registered voters, while those aged 70 years and above are 33, 275, representing 3% of the voters.

    The number of election officials deployed by INEC include one Retuning Officer, eight LGA collation officers and LGA supervisors each, 105 Registration Area Collation Officers, 225 Supervisory Presiding Officers, 2,244 Presiding Officers, 6,732 Assistant Presiding Officers, and one consultancy supervisor.

    A total of 118 domestic and eight foreign election observers have been accredited to monitor the election across the state.

    The INEC has pledged to conduct free, fair and credible election in which the people would determine their own governor.

    The security agency also pledged to provide secure environment for the peaceful conduct of the election.

     

  • (ANALYSIS) Off-season polls: All eyes on INEC as Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo elect their governors today

    (ANALYSIS) Off-season polls: All eyes on INEC as Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo elect their governors today

    …will BVAS/Irev work without a glitch?

    …as states delivered by the judiciary go to polls

    In the next 24hours the offshore elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states may have been concluded by Nigeria’s apex electoral body, the all powerful INEC.

    But many questions are begging for answers as the imported technology used in the last general elections left a very bitter taste in the mouths of many Nigerians making whatever the electoral body delves into now to be laced with suspicion.

    The imported machines(BVAS/Irev) totally failed in the last presidential election but recorded success in other elections.

    In this offshore elections will INEC remedy its previous mistakes and right its many errors?

    Already there are pockets of protests in Imo State that the Irev password has been removed.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) in this analysis will take a snappy look into the three offshore states that were birthed by the Nigerian judiciary not by the tagged Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC that is not truly independent.

    A PEEP AT IMO STATE A PRODUCT OF THE JUDICIARY:

    On 14 January 2020, the Supreme Court declared Uzodimma the duly elected Governor of Imo State. The court held that results from 388 polling units were wrongly excluded from votes ascribed to Uzodimma and the APC in Imo adding that the first appellant Uzodimma holds the majority of lawful votes cast.

    The Imo State Supreme Court’s verdict eventually earned the governor the tag of a Supreme Court governor. Precisely, the Supreme Court single handedly produced a governor that came fourth in INEC’s conducted election.

    Hope Uzodinma eventually became the first tagged Supreme Court governor in Nigeria.

    His reign as governor has turned the state into a theatre of war in the last three years.

    Insecurity wore ‘agbada and sokoto ‘ and peace became alien to the state.

    If INEC adequately deployed its imported technology the right way Uzodinma should be relocating from Nigeria by Monday but the magical prowess of imported technology could just install him as nothing is impossible in Nigeria.

    BAYELSA:

    Governor-elect David Lyon did not for one day rule the State after INEC declared him winner as on the eve of his swearing in ceremony he was given the red signal.

    A five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Odili nullified the election of Mr Lyon on the grounds that his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, presented false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of his qualification for the November 16 governorship election in the state.

    The apex court in the judgment delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko consequently ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Messrs Lyon and Degi-Eremienyo.

    End of David Lyon’s mission impossible to government house in Bayelsa.

    In today’s election, Governor Diri is facing a master of the game and a ruthless politician in the mould of Timipre Sylva a one time governor of the state with a massive war chest.

    It’s too early to call but definitely it’s not going to be a roller coaster drive for Governor Diri today. He has to be on his toes for the next 24hours to make sure he returns to government house.

    KOGI:

    Kogi State equally had its fair share in INEC’s dislocated elections as ‘inconclusive’ electoral process helped to shape the state into another judiciary product.

    Flashback:
    Bello was declared winner of the 2015 Kogi gubernatorial election after he was chosen on the platform of the All Progressives Congress as the replacement for the late Abubakar Audu who originally won the election but died before the result was declared.

    Thereafter there were legal tussles, expectedly the Supreme Court verdict favoured Yahaya Bello.

    His reign remains infamous.

    He’s at the verge of installing his puppet today if Kogites allow the youngest governor in Nigeria to have his way.

    As Nigerians wait for the outcome of today’s polls, democracy is sitting on a keg of gunpowder in Nigeria. The outcomes of the results in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo will go a long way to prove whether democracy has come to stay.

  • BREAKING: Boat carrying election personnel capsises, SPO abducted in Bayelsa

    BREAKING: Boat carrying election personnel capsises, SPO abducted in Bayelsa

    Few hours to Bayelsa governorship election, the boat carrying election personnel capsises in southern Ijaw.

    According to reports, the Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO), of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) assigned to registration Area-06 Ossioma in Sagbama LGA was also abducted.

    Details to follow…

  • Jonathan speaks ahead of Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo governorship elections

    Jonathan speaks ahead of Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo governorship elections

    Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has charged politicians and their followers to eschew violence and conduct themselves in a peaceful and lawful manner, in  Saturday’s governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.

    Jonathan made the call in a statement by his Media Aide, Ikechukwu Eze, in Abuja on Friday.

    Jonathan also urged the electoral management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and security agencies to be professional and patriotic in the discharge of their responsibilities during and after the elections.

    The former President said that democracy drew its strength from the people, adding that “a man who means well for his people would not recruit thugs to maim and kill the very people he wants to govern.”

    Reiterating that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any citizen, Jonathan urged all stakeholders to jettison actions that could jeopardize the peaceful conduct of the elections.

    “As citizens of voting age in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi to go to the polls for the governorship election on Saturday , I urge all electorate and politicians to avoid violence and conduct themselves in a peaceful and lawful manner.

    “Let us refrain from all activities that will jeopardize the collective peace and stability of our states and our country.

    “Let us resist the temptation and inducements that may be deployed as agents of destruction.

    “For democracy to endure and be impactful, we must ensure that the leadership recruitment process, especially elections, are credible, transparent, fair and peaceful.

    “I urge the electoral management body, security agencies and other stakeholders to be professional and patriotic in the discharge of their responsibilities during and after the elections.

    “Democracy draws its strength from the people; let us work to strengthen the confidence of the people by ensuring that the electoral process is peaceful and transparent,“ the former president said.

    Jonathan added that it was the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to allow the people to choose their leaders peacefully.

  • Why I will vote for Diri – Bayelsa resident, Happiness

    Why I will vote for Diri – Bayelsa resident, Happiness

    Mrs Happiness Godsent, a business woman, on Friday said she would vote for Gov. Douye Diri in the Nov. 11 election “because when he became governor, with His Church heart, he brought peace to Bayelsa”.

    Godsent told NAN on Friday in Yenagoa that “the governor has been there for the people of Bayelsa and has ensured peaceful coexistence among citizens”.

    “This governor is someone that has time for the people. Since he became governor, we have been having peace in the state.

    “Before he came on board, we used to run up and down. Since he came in, we can move around without fear.

    “Now, I can do my business till 11 p.m. with my mind at peace. Before he came, the latest we could stay was 9 p.m. with fear and the street shaking.

    “He has really made things easy for us. As you can see, tomorrow is election day and we are all prepared for it as we move around freely.

    “The people can now move with confidence without being molested.”

    She said that the governor also ensured they had good roads, adding that in the past, one usually found it difficult to walk on the streets as the roads were not tarred.

    “This Azikoro road is a route that vehicles could not move on, but now it is motorable. Cars are plying it. Everywhere looks good.

    “The roads are now tarred with street lights. He really tried. That is why I am going to vote for him.

    “I came to Bayelsa since 2002 and I know how these boys were behaving. We used to run up and down but things have changed now. The running around has stopped.

    “A lot of things were happening in other places, but in Bayelsa, he calmed a lot of things.

    “Even if the boys want to create a scene, he tells them that he is the governor and they usually listen,” she said.

    She also credited Diri with paying salaries regularly.

    “He pays salaries regularly. That makes business to move very fast.

  • TNG Analysis: Clash of the titans in Bayelsa as Gov Diri slugs it out with Sylva

    TNG Analysis: Clash of the titans in Bayelsa as Gov Diri slugs it out with Sylva

    … it’s definitely a two-man race as other parties are in heavy slumber

    The political configurations and permutations are different now as the immediate past Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva goes for incumbent governor of Bayelsa, Duoye Diri’s jugular on Saturday.

    In this analysis, TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) will take a look at the weaknesses and strengths of the major contenders before the battle tomorrow.

    The political terrain now has taken a new lease of life as Sylva’s sudden victory over his k-legged qualification to run has been amended by the Court to enable him participate in tomorrow’s guber race.

    Also, on the part of Governor Diri, the forces that ensured he lost the guber election in 2019 before a Justice Mary Odili panel on eve of swearing in ceremony sent shock waves into the APC camp by nullifying David Lyon’s victory.

    The political configurations and critical stakeholders in Bayelsa November 2019 election then did not endorse the emergence of Governor Diri because his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson had stepped on powerful toes and the swing was shifted to David Lyon widely believed to be Sylva’s political acolyte.

    The elders of the state threw their weight behind Lyon who then had a massive support from the Bayelsa youth who ensured his victory.

    But as usual the judiciary took the last decision by effectively doing INEC’s job by announcing the results it deemed appropriate and Lyon lost out at the court.

    Today it’s a new song in Bayelsa as all the critical stakeholders are backing Gov Diri including the former number one citizen in Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan who openly campaigned for Diri begging Bayelsans that he should be given a second chance.

    Some disgruntled elements within the APC are also supporting the Diri’s candidacy making Sylva look like a loner in his own turf where he governed for five years.

    In the Bayelsa guber race there are 20 contestants but the only party that could have made a little inroad was Labour Party, LP, but unfortunately the party barely 72hours to the election became heavily factionalized.

    This development has given the APC and PDP a very good lead to aim at the Bayelsa government house.

    A PEEP AT THEIR WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS:

    Strength:
    Diri a former House of Representatives member, past Senator has the incumbency factor working in his favor.

    He has the local government chairmen, his commissioners, political appointees to help him galvanise the electorate.

    Many political appointees across the thress senatorial districts of the state.

    His political association with the elders of the state and critical stakeholders who one way or the other could swing the votes in his favor is a big plus to his chances of winning.

    War chest: Heavily loaded to withstand Sylva’s onslaught from any quarter.

    Weaknesses:

    The incumbent despite embarking on massive infrastructural developments in continuity with former Governor Dickson’s vision, it’s still widely believed that he did not touch lives and human development index fell below par.

    This could be dangerous because majority of those going to vote tomorrow are within this class.

    Strengths:

    Sylva understands the political terrain of the State like his backhand and had used his political appointment as Minister of State Petroleum Resources to empower a sizeable number of his grassroots supporters.

    This is a very strong force that could galvanise votes for him on Saturday if Diri decides to slumber relying on the incumbency factor.

    War chest: Sylva can match Diri Kobo for Kobo, Naira for Naira and if need be dollars for dollars. He has an entrenched war chest.

    Weaknesses:

    Sylva is largely considered by his very close allies as being brash and highly un predictable. This is a big minus for the lanky former minister of Petroleum Resources.

    The other 18 contenders are bystanders they don’t have any business with Saturday guber election in Bayelsa.

  • Bayelsa Elections : INEC moves sensitive materials to LGAs

    Bayelsa Elections : INEC moves sensitive materials to LGAs

    The Independent Electoral Commision (INEC) on Thursday distributed sensitive election materials to all the eight local government areas in Bayelsa ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

    Mr Wilfred Ifogah, Head of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC’s State Headquarters said in Yenagoa.

    He said that the items had been in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria branch in Yenagoa, and were distributed in the presence of representatives of all political parties participating in the polls.

    “The distribution took place earlier today in the presence of political parties and security agencies.

    ”Currently the sensitive materials are at our local government offices from where they will be dispatched to the Registration Area Centres (RAC) on Friday.

    “On Saturday, the materials will then be taken from the RACs to various polling units for set up,” Ifogah said.

    Detachments of police and other security agencies deployed for election duties have been arriving the state since Wednesday while political parties wrap up their campaigns.

    A total of 1,056,862 registered voters are expected to go to the polls on Nov. 11 to elect a governor for the state during the off-cycle election

     

  • Governorship Election: Stay away from Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa, military warn troublemakers

    Governorship Election: Stay away from Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa, military warn troublemakers

    The Defence Headquarters has warned troublemakers to “stay away from the
    Nov. 11 governorship elections in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa or face injurious consequences from the military.”

    The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, gave the warning while briefing newsmen on the operations
    of the armed forces on Thursday in Abuja.

    Buba said the military is aware of plans by some individuals to dress in military uniform to disrupt the electoral processes in the three states on Saturday.

    He said that “for the off season elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states this weekend, here is a message for those who planned to disrupt the process.

    “We are aware of your plans to dress in military gear to misled the public. Be assured of injurious consequences should you proceed with those plans.

    “We will not allow our image to be dragged to the mud. You’re warned.”

    The director said the military is determined to give the elections the seriousness it deserved, adding that troops and platforms were being moved to
    locations to reinforce security already in place in those states.

    He said security agencies are ready to identify and differentiate between real soldiers and the fake ones.

    Buba explained that troops had continued to exert pressure on groups that sought to derail any progress toward peace and security in the country.

    According to him, it is for these reason the military is inflicting severe damage on terrorists, insurgents and violent extremists through operations across the country.

    He added that “accordingly, we are targeting their leadership, infrastructure and foot soldiers.

    “The coordination between air and ground forces is like never seen before and yielding amazing results.

    “We are expecting new platforms that would further enhance our capabilities to further root out terrorists and destroy their military
    capabilities.”